Secrets in the Language of Flowers
by darjeelinte
Summary: It's not a myth, how Amaimon can make flowers bloom from nothing. Shiemi is more intrigued by him than that.
1. Magnolia

A/N: Hello there! Recently I've gotten into Ao no Exorcist and I'll be here for a very long time. I've been writing a Rin/Izumo fic as well and this one is dedicated to another couple. Which is Amaimon/Shiemi. Yeah these two.

Before anyone accuses me of shipping a non-consenting couple and how horrible it is, this is a canon divergence that will be before the camping exam and therefore, that won't happen.

With Shiemi's personality I think that she would have either given him a second chance as she hadn't remembered the events that well and Amaimon could learn how to use his emotions. Because he does have emotions, from his desire to fight Rin and playful/arrogance, he just doesn't know how to convey them in other scenarios.

So since it's a canon divergence, the characters will be a bit different, probably Amaimon but that's for development and not being all OOC. There's much not known about him so it'll give me wiggle room to have!

It could be seen as a crack couple but when I really thought about it he's the King of Earth and she loves flowers. She's expressive and he's not as much and I think he could learn from her. If only they had been introduced differently!

So I think I'll write another canon divergence. However this one doesn't have much of a fixed path as I don't have an outline for it. But I'll probably whip something up!

Chapters will vary in length so don't be surprise if one is shorter/longer in words.

Sorry for this long author note again but this is just in advance!

Enjoy!

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Magnolia

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When Amaimon went to the human world it's mainly because of it being an accidental chance. Not that he minded since it was something that he had heard from the mouths of demons far above himself and yearned for that experience that had been kept from him for several millenniums.

He'd overheard his older brother speaking with father on it and curiosity came naturally after that and a tumult of possibles that plagued him. Mimicking what his brother had done when going to the parallel place, which was easier than expected, Amaimon had found himself into the human world. Though he didn't possess a body of his own, he had a astral form. Yet he couldn't interact with anything and experience the world with his own hands, his own body.

Soon, he found a suitable vessel.

Rather at a young age, not beyond an adult, a boy with a odd attachment to nature was plagued with a malady that couldn't be cured from his time period. From his deathbed, he refused to be cremated in the traditional method for him to depart for the afterlife and rather be lowered into the earth, much to his family's disapproval.

They didn't have to worry about that, as Amaimon had took a hold of his body, with given consent as he did want to be with the earth and Amaimon was the Earth King. When it was the witching hour, he disappeared and left the family to somber over their son that had been spirited away, and wandering in the afterlife.

It was a dying wish that Amaimon had fulfilled for a human but not to be merciful as he had done it for himself. Demons were selfish beings after all and he was no exception.

Exploring the various things about the world, he saw that there weren't as many flowers as he had. In fact, not many at all.

So, he went back and forth between the worlds, entranced with the new place—a newer playground for him. Gradually, his human body had deteriorated to accommodate him, the black hair and eyes altering the green and yellow, his tan complexion paling to a sickly shade of alabaster.

When traveling there, nature flourished to greater lengths that even Mephistopheles had noted the changing that was between the worlds but didn't say a thing even when their father had confronted Amaimon himself. It was dismissed, as demons were in the human world frequently, (more than their own), and that he could go whenever his heart desired.

But, he had to be wary of humans as they didn't take much to demons. The feeling was mutual to what demons felt to humans, especially exorcists and holy men and women. Though there were those rare instances that invoked fornication that wasn't uncommon. 

Mainly why Amaimon was going back and forth was that his plants had to become accommodated to the environment, himself included.

While he had the Garden of Amahara, it was perturbing to see the world so scarce without these creations of his, the lacking of greenery and everything in between. At least there would be something interesting for him when he got bored. Letting his designs of nature spread throughout the regions, multiple derivations had come along with them, from his word of tongue.

Unbeknownst, Amaimon didn't know that he had caused the birth of a language and wouldn't know that for a long time when he was gone.

Demons and humans, while being opposites in every way possible, both were more intertwined than any would have thought. When he was there, many humans either hated or loved their existence much to his indifference. Whether for religious justification of cults and bible thumpers, humans were simple minded creatures that couldn't go beyond anything but a plaything to him.

It never ceased to amaze him how baseless they could become when their life was jeopardized by his own hands, the inevitability of death when it wasn't by their own hands and by an unseen force.

It was delightful having that control and certainly achievable to him.

When he had been in a place that was known as Japan, his brother had taken a infatuation to the acreage, and the earth demon had come upon a sweets shop when arriving. His brother had told him about those and Amaimon had stopped by one. Soon enough he had become a regular to everyone there, though he couldn't quite tell if he was welcomed as he couldn't read expressions well.

Coins clinked between his pointed fingers; it was currency that he had to have as Mephistopheles had given it to him though he didn't see why he had too and at first tried to chew on it. Biting on the skewer his fangs went through the sweetened dough.

From the sweet sauce and the starchiness of the dough, Amaimon hadn't liked it that much when it stuck to his teeth that made him want to pry at it. Yet it had made him develop a taste for sweetness later on as he tossed the skewer.

Often when he had went back and forth he saw how humans were overpopulating at an alarming rate, the green masses being burned and cleared out to near extinction because of it. Plants that he had put weren't there anymore and even if he did, it would be extinct. Pollution became heavy from factories and was anywhere and everywhere, from the hazed sky to the murky waters and he wasn't going to stay for that as he could feel the dying of his kingdom at his fingertips in Assiah.

It was disrespectful as he studied the changing with the existence of humans and the nonexistent demons that weren't staying out of the light and beginning to come out. Legends were made about them, integrated in silly things pertaining of many religions. Amaimon had been seen on occasions and his moniker had been revealed, much to his insouciance.

Amaimon would leave for now.

When he was about to go back to Gehenna, he heard a gasp and he stopped immediate.

Whirling around he saw a young girl, around the age of where children were hopelessly naive and influenced by their surroundings.

Eyes wide she had a wobble in her steps as she backed up from him, the tremble in her lips signaling that she would either scream or cry, both equally horrible to his ears.

Usually he would tell kids to scram and if he was up to it chase them for fun, (though they didn't like his version of tag), but there was something that had caught his eye.

Colorful flowers were in her hand that had been plucked out of the ground as they were trapped in her balled up fists. Petals  
limply dangled from the center and crumpled under the weight of child hands. When seeing that he looked at them and she looked at where Amaimon was looking before at him again, a game of staring with the wind that dragged through them that filled the silence.

The quivering in her lip had halted and he disconcerted from that action.

Both were in a secluded quarter in the forest far from any others, at least those that were humans.

The child had come out to find more flowers in the parts that her mother had warned her not to go in too far, as she had a fascination with flowers and wanted to collect them, to admire them.

"A-are you a…" the girl gripped at the flowers and Amaimon could feel the pain from it. "Are you a demon?"

How could she know that? When he had come there, his older brother had him wore then proper clothes to hide his tail though his horn was prominent. Perhaps she saw it anyway, children were rather deceptive when given a chance.

He opened his mouth. "Yes. Now scram."

The girl hadn't expected an answer so fast with the threat after it and she was frightened, freezing up on the spot.

Her mother and father had told her of demons and how they were evil. How she wasn't to go near any and how they were to be purged by the gifted people who could get rid of them that came to their house.

Yet the one before didn't seem like that at all. Rather...lazy looking.

Strolling over to her, that made her knees buckle in and he blended over to the remains of the once alive flowers that had fallen from her. Bending down, he dug a hole in the earth in front of her.

When she had not ran off, yelling that there was a demon or calling for monks and priests—or god forbid, an exorcist—he figured that as she was a human and a child, she wouldn't be much to overtake if he had to kill her. Simply the ground could swallow her up if he commanded it.

Children were better than adults but both were such nuisances. 

Yet this one was interesting. He wouldn't kill her...yet.

Perplexed with a traitorous curiosity, she gandered at what he was doing and crouched with him. Still fearful with tremoring legs she wasn't going to run if he would hurt her. Yet she also wondered what he was doing and was intrigued, her fear being replaced.

"You shouldn't pluck flowers." Not at all expecting that, she felt guilt forming in her stomach and raked her fingers in the soil to try and get rid of it.

"I just want to admire them. I didn't mean them any harm…" The girl had trailed off and Amaimon recalled from his brother that human children were excessively fragile at this age, and when they were scared it was the most irreproachable and weak that they could be.

Unlike demons, most had parents, caretakers to help them grow up with guidance and though he was fathered by Satan, he had always been on his own as Satan had fathered many. His mother had been nonessential in his life and absent during most of his life, not that he could blame her.

Pushing those useless thoughts aside, he shaped the top of the mound and wondered why she still hadn't escaped from him.

"That hurts them. If you take care of them…" he put his clawed hand over it and a cluster of flowers sprouted and she jumped and she tottered on her wooden clogged sandals before falling on her back. He had only blinked at her. When getting up to see she gasped again. The purple and whites of the cosmos even more vivacious than before, unfurling in front of her.

"They'll grow from it. Flowers do that." Amaimon then stood up, brushing off his hands into his clothing. The clothes he was wearing was expensive and his brother would probably throw a fit from how he had worn it.

With that done he went to leave again, deeper into the forest, but the child had stood up. Clenching to the hem of her kimono in her hand she took a step to him.

"Wait!" The girl looked at him with a determination that did make him wait and she gathered her wits.

"What's your name?" She looked at the flowers before back at him. What had happened before her had to be real! It wasn't just from myths her mother had told her about!

Amaimon just glanced at her and then he spoke. "Amaimon, the Earth King." Then he began to walk away, to go back to his world.

Behind him the little girl had smiled to herself as she rolled the words over her tongue, saying it to herself as if she could forget it. Strangely, it was something a fairy would have the name of and not a scary creature.

Cupping her hands around her mouth she shouted at his retreating back, "I'll...I'll treasure them! I'll take care of them! I promise!"

When hearing that he hadn't stopped but a small smile tugged at his lips.

It was endearing how promises were made, especially from people as young as her. His brother had said that humans forget things and tended to be as untruthful as demons themselves.

Yet Amaimon would be a lingering individual in that young girl's future. Not that he would ever know. 

—

Every time she watered her flowers, she took in the sight of flowers and the verdant perfume that had been carried in with the slightest of breezes. The sun warmed her as she sat in the nascent safe space, the birds tweeted and chirruped with their sing songs in the passing of the day.

"Grandma!" Taking her eyes away, she saw the toddling girl that held something large in her arms that covered her face and half of her. Putting the watering can down, she took off her gloves.

Tripping over nothing but then picking herself off before she could move to her, Shiemi had gotten to her.

"What's this?" Holding it up her grandmother had chuckled at her and she lowered it with confusion. "I found it when I was helping mama clean!"

"Really now?" She had recognized the book when seeing it and it was a thing she had kept for quite some time.

It had been buried somewhere, in a trunk that the young girl had hot into and had become entranced by it. That had led her to her grandmother as her mother had become busy again and after all, her grandmother was the person that knew the most on plants in a very compassionate way.

"What's this?" She repeated the question as the girl was too young to read what was on the cover and was in the middle of learning and questioning anything she had the chance too.

Beckoning for her to sit down, the older woman lowered herself to the ground and let the grass cushion her strained bones as the girl had taken off her sandals and clambered into her lap. Handing her the book, the older woman didn't have to see the words as she knew, since she herself had wrote it.

It was important to know what flowers were saying, and each had a distinct personality that came with it. To a select few they could understand it, nonverbal and without the usage of magic. Her grandmother seemed to have a knack of reading flowers, saying that one day she might be able to that filled her with prospecting exuberance.

Opening it up to a page, she traced her fingers over the yellowed creasings and the flowers that would forever be preserved in paper. Ink was pressed into it, with neat calligraphy despite that the ink had feathered.

Weathered from use and the lack of, there were tears that accentuated the years of the book. Shiemi had already seen a few pages and was anticipating it as she had saved the pages for her and grandmother to go over it with her.

Going back to the front of the album, she smiled at Shiemi.

"This book is the Language of Flowers." She's never heard of that and was excited at learning something new from her. Shiemi hadn't known that flowers had their own language. What did they say, she pondered to herself.

"I didn't even know flowers could speak!" That made the woman smile at her even more and she spoke as the child molded herself into her.

In their own secret garden that made them at ease, there was an underlying peacefulness that both had when just being in it. When she had read as much as she could, the sun was hanging midway in the sky and the birds weren't as chatty as before and the breezes were more frequent as their hair danced in the wind, clinging to their sticky cheeks.

"Once," the grandmother began, the hard covered book in her granddaughter's hands as she wanted to look at them more closely at the unread pages. "I met a demon."

That made Shiemi stiffen up, as she was scared from things like those. Her grandmother knew that as she had been at that age, but that had been so long ago. And she had her beliefs changed, a bit from him.

"Were they a good demon?" Shiemi asked and she didn't have a answer for that. There were good and bad demons as there were good and bad people but Shiemi couldn't understand the difference at this age.

Instead placing her bony hand to rest on her head she offered her what she could.

"Well...when I met him he was what inspired me to have this," she didn't have to gesture as she peered around the garden that had Shiemi do as well.

"And he made flowers bloom from the ground as if it were nothing. It was like he was a fairy. Magical." Each word became hushed when admitting it. When hearing that Shiemi's head snapped at her.

A fairy? Those were nice creatures that frolicked in and around mushroom circles, from the many stories she had heard. Tiny figurines with the grace of a ballerina that had gossamer wings, she'd always wanted to see one. Or befriend one.

"Really?! I want to meet him!" At her enthusiasm the old woman patted her, her fingers sliding through her hair while chuckling slowly.

"Maybe you will."

That made Shiemi grin at her grandmother even more, as the book had been momentarily forgotten as she lunged upwards to hug her grandmother.

Nestled into the grass blades, the pages had flipped to the last page. There was a teenager and an unreadable expression on his face that could be taken as boredom. Watercolors had been splashed on him that was now in dulling vibrancy. Yet there was a colorfulness—a likeliness that hadn't faded with time.

No words had been written on that page.

* * *

Flower Meaning: love of nature

* * *

A/N: And that's all for now! I'll probably go back and revise. Also I know flowers have multiple meanings but there will be a singular one to emphasize the main point of each chapter.

Please review and read. I'd like to hear your thoughts! I'll probably update sooner as this couple gives me a lot of creativity.

EDIT: I reread Amaimon (there's so little of him, sob), pages in the manga and hopefully it doesn't seem to OOC, although it is an AU so it may seem like it.


	2. Lilac

A/N: I've decided for this story I won't use Japanese honorifics, not nii-san, sensei, etc. Not to Americanize it but it makes it easier for me and I don't want to butcher the Japanese language.

I've realized that it may just be the translations but Shiemi switched from grandmother and mother/mom so I think as a child she would refer to them in more improper terms like mama and grandma but that's just me. Just wanted to clear that up.

I'm sorry for the late update but exams have been sticking me in the swamps. Where I'll be damned to stay in if I don't get myself together. I swear this isn't a writer's block! I have just a few left! But I've been prolonging this ehehee...

Anyway happy reading, enjoy the new chapter!

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Lilac

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In their garden, Shiemi had laid out while she paged through the book, kicking her feet through the air as she enjoyed the afternoon. Humid was the day as it was to rain subsequently, predicted from the forecast and from that, there wasn't any relief from the sweltering heat except in the coolness of the dampening in the ground. Skipping to the end of the book Shiemi sees him.

Peculiar hair and eyes and clothes, just about everything was peculiar as she hadn't seen a person quite like that before. He didn't seem exactly like a fairy–where were his wings?–and the look he bore was something she couldn't name. Not happy, not sad or mad, not anything really.

Padding over to her grandmother, who was tugging up the weeds. Putting the book aside to aid her, Shiemi insisted that she did despite her grandmother's gentle protesting.

Weeds had been hindering the other plants and were to be removed before they could prey onto the others. Her grandmother always told her it was necessary to do it in order for the plants to reach their full potential.

Yet Shiemi was remorseful as they just wanted to grow, that's what they did and all they could do. It wasn't their fault that they were weeds, that that's how they came to be. Still there was another intendment and it was to be composted, recycled and returned to their rightful origins that were in the crevices of the earth.

As the two uprooted the cumbersome plants, the heat made both take a break as her grandmother tired rapidly at this point of the day, especially in the hot weather and they took refuge in the grassy bedding.

Plopping down beside the senior, she took the book from where she had left it. The grass was as welcoming as her arms as Shiemi placed the ancient book into her lap and flipped through it to the last page. This time when she saw him, he was more of a goblin turned human, not counting the spike on his head and his elongated fingernails.

Shiemi pointed to him. "How come there aren't any words on this page?" In her grandmother's eyes there was a mirth to them.

"There's no need to put anything down." The girl pouted at that and returned her gaze to the illustration.

Shiemi put her fingers on the watered-down texture of the parchment, going over the unevenness of it. "What's his name?" There were many demons, all lurking in plain view and though she didn't know the names of those she just wanted to know this one, him.

Though their family had been involved with exorcists, her mother had kept her from learning about demons, her grandmother did tell her about them, to quell her questioning. Her mother would shake her head at the two and the stories that she had believed in when she was as young as her, but she let them be.

Many of the wares that were in stock now pertained to things that could be used to counter the dastardly beings. Herbs were remedies for being stricken with a demon as well as exorcising it, along with the holy supplements which were a collection to the shop. It made business fortunate and profitable for her family as exorcists came to replenish their supplies often. In lieu, it was where exorcists could tell their woes, their inner demons, before pursuing them.

Transition from her grandmother's botanist shop to being a profusion of vendibles wasn't all that bad, though that meant for Shiemi there were frequent people in and out. Well, she'd rather stay in the garden.

"He's the King of Earth." The girl leaned up to her, expectant. That's all she would hint at as she wanted the girl to become able to be self-aware and recognize things as she was a bright, in certain aspects. "You're very smart Shiemi. You can figure who he is in time."

However the girl was stupefied in him and lacked knowing his proper name. Then, she's gotten a grand idea and her eyes gleamed of her intentions.

"Maybe if we give him something he'll come!" The girl was thoughtful as she strung along her plan. "Then I'll make a friend and learn his name!" From her thinking, it was flawless from the start and could be done if she knew what he liked...what did demons like...

Would he even want to become her friend?

No of course he would.

Demons hadn't come into the garden as there was a obstruction surrounding them. From the academy they were encased in a safeguard to keep out the unsavory things. Albeit, not always did it keep them out, as there were demons that had gotten in and would be a haphazard to most.

It was then that a few days went by as Shiemi had ventured out and into the brambles near her house.

Rainfall had been keeping her inside for the past few days and she had been cooped up inside and went to explore an itching in her hands and feet to do something. There were flowers near the side of the house that she tended too just as much as the ones in the garden and she was excited at the prospect of finding plants breaching nearby.

Mud coated her feet, in between her toes and under her nails, as she went down the stone steps from and then went into the thickets. Almost tripping, she had pulled up at the ends of her kimono to step onto the unpaved ground.

Mindful of her feet, she found that the ground was slickened and that there wasn't litter or sticklers to accidentally hurt herself on. Her looping sleeves caught in a few branches but she pulled them back and craned her head in the bushes to see if there was anything that had bloomed with the short-lived rainshower.

Peering inwards she pushed back the leaves and put her face in as far before a branch got itself caught, getting wet in the process and shaking her head to get off anything else that could have lodged in her hair. Shiemi sniffed from having a runny nose, though it seemed to be dripping whenever the temperature rose and dropped too suddenly.

After a few minutes of how much a adventurous little girl could take, she went back to the stone path. As there weren't any blooms she would go to the other side, edging to another part.

But then something clawed into her and the most malicious laughter she'd heard booming in her ears that made her stop. Her obi around had been slashed through as she panicked and then screamed when it wouldn't let go. Her screams were a sound that made the surroundings silent and distant to her.

Attempting to run, the demon had blocked her off and she couldn't even see it, that sent her into another panic because of that. It said something to her but she didn't want to hear nor cared too, clamping down her ears, shaking her head back and forth and screaming as an irrational fear came over her.

Its malice had gotten into her and would haunt her for her dreams until she made herself forget or–try to.

It was then mother rushed out, and taking out a vial of holy water from the inside of her sleeve, threw it onto where the demon was. Shattering at sheer impact, the glass had gotten into the demon and the greenery and then it vanished with a frightening screech. Blood dripped on the leaves much like the raindrops from the earlier showers.

Her grandmother had come behind her mother, slower and careful down the winding stairs and watched her daughter and granddaughter as the mother took the girl by the arm. The mother wasn't aware that her fingernails were gripping her but that wasn't of importance. All Shiemi did was rub at the forming tears at her eyes.

From the vaporous steaming from the ground that made the infected greenery shrivel, her mother was angered and equally scared, though her face may not show it. When accessing that her daughter wasn't harmed she went up the steps as her daughter stumbled after her.

Shiemi in tow, they'd had returned to the shop and the mother had to make certain if the demon was lurking around, as it had vanished but hadn't been vanquished. For all she knew it could be in the garden.

She snapped, "That's it. We're getting a gate! Shiemi inside!" Though the girl was shaken up her mother's shrill voice made her move and go back into the protected coven of their house.

The grandmother watched the two before sighing and going inside to comfort the young child.

In her room, Shiemi had her face buried in a pillow and when there was a knock at her door she didn't get up. The person let themselves in and as it was her grandmother, she tried to quiet her sobbing by putting her hands to her mouth. Her grandmother sat down on the bed, and she clinged onto her.

"I'm s-sorry!" she said as her sniveling started up again and the older woman just put her the child's head in her lap.

"What for?" She said and the girl shuddered, her little body overcomed with unpleasantness. While letting her let it out she massaged her back to quiet her.

Briefly, the girl set her head up as she swiped at her running nose and her face was ruddy from all her crying and gasping fits she had. Keeping her crying at bay, she took small inhales, as much as she could take in.

Although she knew it was improper as her mother scolded her when she did it (and resorted to her hands instead), she used the inside sleeve of her kimono to wipe at the snot and tears with the back of her other hand. Then she blew into it and she had quieted down for a moment.

"B-because…" she took a breath."We won't ever get to see him!" The elder knew who Shiemi was crying about. Already the little girl was guilty and it was because of her they wouldn't get to met the demon.

"That's fine." Through her hiccuping the grandmother had carded her hands through her hair. Finding a twig, she took it out and was inwardly amused at how it could have gotten there. While the girl ceased her crying and rubbed at her face, her grandmother decided that she would tell Shiemi another tale, one that she was fond of.

"Shiemi have you ever heard of the Garden of Amahara?"

Almost a week after the event, there had been a gate that was built in the perimeter. It was like it had always been there as it loomed over her, casing her in from the ends of the forest that began from the garden.

As blackened as charcoal and as high in the sky that it rivaled the treetops, it was blessed as well as the surroundings around the house to ensure her mother that there wouldn't be any demons anytime soon.

It divided off the wild flowers from their garden that had clear boundaries for her and that made Shiemi saddened but it was for the best, as her mother had said. Staying inside she kept to herself, but came out whenever her grandmother was in the garden.

The garden didn't need much attending to as it had a dosage of nutrients from the rainwater prior, but it was something to occupy the two gardeners.

One day, a strange man in the oddest clothes appeared. Tailored in white, a cape and a top hat with an appearance that made Shiemi immediately wonder if he was a magician. His movements were sweeping and high-flown, as was his vocabulary. Seeing him engage in a long speech with her mother she had avoided him.

In the garden as she was getting rid of the insects that were fattening up on the vegetables. Blanketing over it all, she sprayed the herbal pesticides that was made for driving away the insects whenever it had rained. While showers brought most of the benefits to the vegetation, it brought pests too.

"What a lovely garden!" The man eyes went over everything before landing on her. Then, bounding over to her he went to one knee and in a poof of smoke there was a lollipop. Shiemi looked down at her feet that she hid under her dragging kimono but she did take the candy from him since it had been impressive, making it from thin air.

As her mother came over she hid behind her while she tsked. In her mother's clothing she tucked herself away but did look out at him for a second. The man got up, not concerned at her and inspected everything further, even touching a few things.

A conversation between her mother and him carried on about things she didn't have much interest in nor understood and Shiemi was struggling to not to tell the man to not touch everything. His hands wandered too much and his touching was too imploring, too rough as he didn't have the knowledge she had.

While he toyed with a rose, not at all bothered by its thorns, he looked back to her. "She's shy, I take it?" That made her tune back in and she was that the man had gotten down on one knee and was very close once again. It was almost as if he was looking into her soul and that made her shiver at the chill that she had from him.

"She is," her mother said as if it was a bad thing and went on to why her daughter should be outgoing like all the other children.

Mothers were like that comparing children and what they should be–what they wanted them to be–but her mother did it excessively as if to compensate for her. Still when she said that it made Shiemi feel insulted as she was right there but thought nothing of it, mostly.

"I think it's cute," he directed that at her as well as winking mischievously and she flinched at him rather than that. "Aren't all children at this age like this?"

They talked about other things and then her mother had went inside to take a call which left her with him. Somewhere her grandmother was tending the other plants in the front of their house. Shiemi had only come out as people had stopped coming except for him. Which she busied herself, distributing the pesticides.

It was then he saw the book that was sitting against the trunk of the tree and had gone over to it. While she had been trying to unwrap the sweet, she saw the man thumbing through it at his leisure.

But she couldn't do much and let him look, and went back to her gardening though glancing out of her eyes until he stopped on a certain page.

In a flash he was in front of her and she landed in her back from how fast he had moved and she was helped up by a gloved hand at her arm. She could feel a startlingly coldness through it.

"Tell me," he brought the book to her face and pointed at the only picture in it, "who is this?" It was just to satisfy his curiosity, for the time being.

Mephisto knew that humans knew of their existence but why was his brother in a harmless flower book and not a cult bible of some sort.

It was odd to say the least, but maybe that old lady he saw earlier was a cult worshiper. He couldn't put it past her, old ladies were the ones to keep an eye on.

The mother was overall ordinary despite coexisting with demons and exorcists but the old bat had squinted at him and he had his suspicions that she knew he was an demon. Old ladies in occult were more common than one would think.

Turning the spray bottle in her hands she gave him an answer that wasn't sufficient. "...don't know…" She said and then she looked up to him. "But he just makes flowers pop up! I really want to meet him one day!" Those being the first things said to him he hadn't fathom that those were the things she would say. After all why would such a meek child want to meet a demon of all things?

"But now I can't since of the gate," she left out that she wasn't brave enough to go out on her own and she scuffed her toe in the pliant dirt.

"Would you like to know his name?" From that the girl look taken back but she nodded a small creeping smile on her face.

"His title–or name–is Amaimon. He's the King of Earth." Also his little brother but he would keep that to himself for now. Mephisto would also not say that he was a demon himself as regular people scared her and he would hate to see what a demon could do. Then again the whole reason why he was here was because of one.

The girls eyes glittered when hearing his name and then she had gone back into the house leaving him. Perhaps she was going to do a satanic ritual to summon him. No, she wouldn't know how to and he doubted that her mother would let her.

Seeing the lollipop that he had offered her discarded he picked it up and twirled it around before looking at the inked drawing of his little brother.

What a abnormal human, even at such a young age he was captivated by her innocence and how she wanted to know a demon, and from how she was, befriend one. From a child in isolation, a friend would be what she would desire. Mephisto would have his eyes on her.

"This could be interesting." And then he disappeared in a plume of lavender smoke. It had dissipated quickly when the girl had come back outside. Letting her eyes look up and down, left and right, when seeing that the man was no longer there she assumed he had left.

With a crayon in her hand, that was her favorite; a very chromatic red that reminded her of the candied fruit drops that she was spoiled with often, from her grandmother that snuck it to her whenever her mother said candy rots teeth.

Opening the book she went to the back and scrawled on the book the name, sounding it out as best as she could. Lines shaky but coherent she smiled at the picture as she colored next to him, many flowers and plants of red. Fairies too, that were holding it in their arms.

—

A few days after that was when she met Yuki. Pressed in black clothing with a high collar that stiffened his posture, with glasses that framed eyes, too blue–or was it greener than blue–and were too mature for someone as young as him. It had been a while since she saw someone her age and it made her skittish, and he was a boy too that made her even more shy. Even at her age he was training himself and becoming a professional at the dangerous occupation, with such a seriousness to his face. His distinct markings were dotted constellations and she kind of wanted to connect them with a pen. That would make him laugh.

He was venerated and she did idolize him a bit and sometimes called him teacher, though he was incessant on his name and not a title.

She'd hope that the lucky charm she'd given him worked, and the boy had come back shortly. From that she secretly cheered that he'd come back for her.

In her imagination, they could be friends. However it seemed that he distance himself and that he would be her mentor for now.

From her mother she had requested Shiemi to learn more about the world and what to expect from it and Father Shiro Fujimoto had all but agreed. It was then that the young boy taught her about their world and the other, Gehenna and demons and everything that fell behind that. As she hadn't gotten hurt she still couldn't see them, unless they wanted to be seen or had a physical being. That was a tidbit of something he had taught her amongst a cascade of many other things.

"Yuki, have you ever heard of the Earth King?" They sat at a table that was near the back to the shop, a conjoining room to their house. On the table, were two miniature tea cups and a teapot was tea she had served them as her mother said she needed the skills to hosts guests. Bits of leaves floated to the top and clung to the sides of the teacup but Yuki drank it regardless.

Marking over her homework he looked to her as she had lost her place in reading and was staring at him.

"Demons...they're all dangerous. No matter what they are or what they claim to be."

Then he went back to what he was doing as she stared at him. There wasn't any explanation but from his face and how he wasn't touching his cold tea and gripping his pen so hard, she didn't need one.

With every visit he brought lessons with him and studying the books that he given her and she kept, treating them and everything he said with respect.

Those were things that she didn't quite get unless someone walked her through it with her, it was just the way she grew up with and grown to learn from. Her extensive knowledge was from her grandmother's traditional teachings that correlated with nature.

The Language of Flowers had disappeared into a drawer that she had put in, on a mistake. But it was to be there for the next few years.

The books she had gotten, those mollified her thinkings as the Earth King and The Garden of Amahara became more forgotten in her memories.

But she made up for it, working twice as hard for her grandmother who couldn't do much with her age.

There would be nothing that could take away how she felt about their garden and she would always take care of it. It was grandmother's treasure of when she had been in her youth and it would be her's too.

* * *

Flower Meaning: youthful innocence

* * *

A/N: whew! Sorry for the delayed wait but I think I'll update every week(s) and maybe month. It's just if I'm up to it. On my other story I realize I have to write one story before the next so it might take time for the other story.

So this interpretation, I think being a child so kept in doors Shiemi would really want friends. In the earlier chapters she was quite devoted into making friends even going to extent of being Izumo's friend (slave). That's all.

Please review/comment, because it does motivate me.


	3. Mullien

A/N: Hey I'm alive! I apologize for the unexpected hiatus but my computer basically broke down, and life really did blindside and I've been trying to go through a tedious process of editing on my laptop. I couldn't and I will find an efficient way to and I'll probably have more time to update(?).

I've also been writing chapters advance to landscape where this story is exactly going and building it up and it's been filled with me not trying to go into more plot bunnies.

Goodnesssss you do not know how hard this chapter was. When describing Gehenna there are literally three panels of manga to work with (that are still darkened by conveniently placed shadows arghhhh), excluding the anime when trying to stay as in canon as possible. Everyone has a different view of Hell and since this a anime/manga thing I hope I got it down good enough.

EDIT: ALSO AMAIMON IS BACK. My favorite character is back honestly I kinda screamed inside when that happened. Which served for more motivation for me yay!

* * *

Mullien

* * *

Amaimon tapped at his phone while he sat atop a escalated place, similar to a outcropping ledge on a mountain. Though it's upside down. The rules of physics don't transfer as well in Gehenna it seemed.

It's a device his brother had gotten him as a late birthday present (several hundred years late), and he snapped a picture of a demon he defeated.

Dissatisfied at the quality of it, he takes more in a rapid succession and going back to delete the ones that were still not to his liking.

It's innards streamed out in a grotesque mixing of fluids, as if a water balloon had combusted upon impact and it's eyeballs had long since been clouded over. It's limbs are somewhere–over there and way over there, at least he thinks. It's an art, this mangled body that he desecrated. Staring at it as he crouched, flicking off what could be the kidney—he doesn't know what but it stinks.

While lesser legions of demons could be killed and disperse in particles, higher ranking demons were similar to humans in terms of hearts, becoming nothing with the years as bones wore to dust, their bodies returning to where everything was created in the earth. Which was exciting whenever he defeated a larger more dangerous demon that he could parade for others to know that he was above them, and that this was his territory.

Everywhere in Gehenna was the same.

Cities for demons were what could be as sinful as acclaimed brothels for mortals. Sex, violence, perjury and just about any other nefarious acts considered in the polar world were in a melding pot of daily occurrences.

There were no set jurisdictions to abide to, only one person that oversaw them, sometimes even he couldn't get away with certain things. That was their society and their standards of living as it had always been for thousands of years and it wouldn't change anytime soon. Yet those were just the kingdoms and Satan's grounds that were overflowing with depravity.

Humans had too many depictions of their home and demons laughed at a few good ones. Fires, vast plains, burning the damned souls of those that were thrusted into this hellhole that were on supposed religious scriptures were the most popularized. And that was what was what through many mortals heads much to their amusement and some others disgust at their ignorance. Yet there were some things that were startlingly close to home, which made them wonder if humans had come into their world; though there was no history of mortals in their world.

Everywhere was desolated with the occasional demon and nuisances between, the towering structures that layered upon one another to climb to every domain of the royal lineage.

With demons trying to rise with these towers, the thrones of Ba'al were the Princes of Hell birthrights and were the few that they could obtain their positions. However it didn't mean that it couldn't be taken and fought over for, yet no common demon could for the past centuries with the exception of the lowest seat.

Bloodshed was something each and every demon, whether weak or strong, participated in. That was a universal birthright that all demons had regardless of how many were brought into existence.

Currently Amaimon was at the 7th seat and basically the near bottom. As for Astaroth, he was deemable enough to take it. Although weaker, and not a son of the devil, at least not purely and directly from divine creation but that could be overlooked on.

He'd had taken the title for himself and was trying to worm up from his current status. When being confronted, Amaimon had reminded why he was above him though it hadn't been a fulfilling match, much less fun but it was better than being completely bored.

However being the languid fighter he was it wasn't hard for challengers to seek him out. Which was why it was such a excitement for a demon his level to battle. But it was the same for the past several hundred years or so, stagnant and full of unfulfillment.

Over time, he had neglected his garden.

It wasn't high maintenance as things in Gehenna aged differently, slower, and the vegetation he had were eternal and couldn't wilt unless taken out of their habitats from the world that they grew in.

A minuscule part of him felt a smidge bad for not putting more effort into it but it was a well kept secret to himself that he had the Garden of Amahara. If any other demon, much less his brothers, knew that he had a garden they'd bully him for being a pansy for a sibling. Most of his siblings dubbed him as the flower princess which was infuriating in itself.

For everyone else, it was a myth that humans had fancied for themselves, a utopia that never was within their reaches.

It wasn't that he didn't like flowers, everything that fell within his ruling was to be cared for but it didn't stop other people trampling onto it and him. It was disregarded in the human world, how much the environment mattered to them.

Since he was the youngest demon of Ba'al he had the honor of that respect.

Both were similar in that position, the tormenting of younger siblings bestowed from their older sibling though for demons torment could mean certain death, in fact it happened quite often.

Brothers were in general, a bother.

Amaimon wished that he had been an only child but that would never have happened.

Thankfully there were no daughters of Ba'al or that would be more of a ruckus for everyone. Succubi were bad enough, seductive winged whores that slept with more humans than demons but the chance of incest to keep the bloodline pure would be tempting and even in their society that was a damnation in itself.

It had been a while since he had departed from the human world but apparently from his brother there had been many advances in their culture. Innovation had been progressing and the phone he had gotten was from that. At times he still couldn't figure out the proper way to use it, though that could be a result of him throwing away the booklet that had the user's guide.

Anyone's home got repetitive after staying at it for so long, and demons were no exception. Perhaps that's why many snuck themselves into the other world where're the chance occurred. And being the thrill-seeker he was, Amaimon wanted to explore the updated world that was inhabited by morsels of those humans.

Crossing between the boundaries, he landed on a sloping rooftop that had him catching his footing. His clothing was still in the olden era as he hadn't bothered with the times and hadn't notice the condition that it was in.

Scraping sculptures stood in place of what once were forests and he clicked his tongue in annoyance at that aspect. But there were fresh sounds, smells, sights that were taking over his peripheral vision as he strolled along the rooftops. Observing it from a distance would suffice for now.

The people, unaware that he was there took his time as he looked over everyone, cupping his eyes with his hands. On a occasion he had stolen what looked to be a new form of food and when taking a bite it was something that he could see himself having more of. As the city had inflated in size and people it was harder to navigate as he tried to follow the way he had used.

Soon enough he had meandered over to where he could tell his brother was, by the languish buildings and the fact that there had been a statue of him nearby.

When getting nearer to the school grounds he saw that there was a blockade that had been enforced but putting his palm on it, he knew that any higher demon could break through it. However when starting to put his power to break it, the safeguard ave way and that was his brother letting him in. As he stepped inside it closed again and he went towards where Mephisto's presence was prevalent.

Swinging open a window, he swung inside landing on all fours on a wooden floor. His nails had caught in the floor leaving a streaking of scratches that he stepped over. Getting up fully, he saw his brother that was reading a book with odd art that he hadn't seen before at his desk before seeing him.

His brother wasn't at all surprised by his sudden entering. "Dear brother you could have called." He looked at the opened window before looking down at his book. "Or at least taken the door."

Taking the phone out of his pocket, Amaimon threw it at Mephisto who in turn caught it easily in his hand that wasn't occupied by the manga. The phone was expensive and had a few fracturing cracks at the screen, probably from the carelessness of his young brother but it still made his brow twitch.

"It's broken. Thanks for the present." Mephisto couldn't tell if he was being sincere or sarcastic since he said two contrasting things and after looking at his straight face Mephisto checked over the phone. Sighing he dropped it in a drawer, to later ask for a refund. Or at least get a discount

"I'll get you another. Also, you have to charge the phone or it'll die," Mephisto informed as he sat back in his seat.

Amaimon cocked his head, "how can that die when it's not living?"

Mephisto tried not to sigh again. "It's not really alive, it's simply a state of being. Now don't make yourself a nuisance."

Standing up Mephisto waved his hands in sweeping movements as there was a poofing of smoke and clothes launched itself at Amaimon to which it hit him and fell into his arms.

Holding it out to him, they were absolutely atrocious, patterns and colors clashing and could be a style defined by his brother's eccentricity. Some thought had been put into it, the earthy colors of his ruling that couldn't be coincidental, although the patterns didn't fit into the equation. Nevertheless it was another gift and he would put these to good use. It would be disrespectful if he didn't.

"You wouldn't want to cause suspicion now, would you?" His brother eyed him as he donned the clothing, popping open the collar as Amaimon gave himself a onceover. With these clothes Amaimon would probably be the most suspicious person besides Mephisto.

With that Mephisto waved him off with a, turning from him."Now run along and don't cause too much trouble or I'll have to punish you!" His brother said with glee, but Amaimon knew what he meant with the malice coated in sugary words.

Going back out the way he had came, Amaimon decided to the streets to familiarize himself with the surroundings. At first there were a few civilians that had given him varying degrees of looking but that could be from his clothes.

—

Inevitably he grew bored of the city and having no money to spend as the currency had changed, he retraced back to where the forests were in the past. However when getting there he saw that there still were a few trees poking through the manmade buildings. Going to the edge of the foliage, he saw that it lead to a garden between bars.

Closer to it, he saw imposing blackened spikes of a gate that blocked him from the outer environment. Hopping to the top and resting perfectly on a point, and he peered inside.

A vast garden welcomed him, the inhabitants greeting him and he acknowledging them that he felt their appreciation, showing off their thriving in vibrancy and shaking leaves that wasn't from the wind.

There was a shed in the backcorner and a plentiful array of different plants that surrounded it and he could tell had been well looked after for many years with a considerable amount of care put into the toiling of the maintaining.

There was a offbeat humming and following the source with his eyes he spotted a girl with dirtied hands and bared feet, unknowingly wiping more dirt at her face as she talked animatedly at a senile woman and laughing. Leaning forward, he accidentally got his coat caught in the spikes when feeling the jerking on his outerwear.

Frowning, he tugged at it making a several holes in the tailcoat. Annoyed he then gave a final and the strongest tug. Which had freed his coat tail but also had taken the gate down, dragging him down with it before he could hop off.

In seconds of wild motion and gravity, he found himself face down and the hurrying footfalls toward him and a voice calling to him.

The grass had tried to cushion his fall, but he had landed on the metal, the ringing echoing through his head. The cold iron under him was blessed as it was burning at him but it wasn't too much of a discomfort. He wasn't in any major pain, but the voice thought otherwise.

"Oh my goodness! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" A flurry of other questions assaulted him as he glanced up. With her directly in front of him he could make out her features better.

Eyes as green as the thriving greenery around him and a curtain of flaxen hair that could be mistaken for sunlight, she gave him a smile that could be considered blinding and he just stared back at her. The soil on her face added to character and made her small face endearing, captivated by youth. Her smiling faltered as did the soil covered hand that extended to him as she turned back to the other person that was hobbling after her that called after her.

There was a brief discussion of muted voices before the woman squinted at him and then eyes widening so far that he could see them. They were the same shade of green from the girl's.

"Help him up Shiemi!"

"O-oh—okay!"

Kneeling, a tender hand found his hand and helped him to sit up. His head did ring but when he sat up it cleared and he looked to the girl. The girl beside him let go of his hand as she scuttled back to her grandmother. He however sat on the ground, nonplussed from the events that were taking place.

"Uh...um w-w-w—" the girl took a deep breath then continued though still shaking from how her hands were, "what's your name?" There was a fleeting pause. "What are you?"

He didn't want to answer since of the warning by his brother but the old woman seemed to know. Getting a bit near to him she had a grin on as if knowing a unspoken secret.

"I think I can answer that for you Shiemi." Blinking, the young girl turned to her grandmother urging her.

"Can't you see?" The old woman gestured to him and to the pointed horn on his head that signified him as a demon. "That's the Earth King, Amaimon. Right in front of us."

A cross of confusion and fear developed upon her face and then after peering at him cautiously she took a step toward him and her eyes lit up. There was open smile in place, as her hands clapped together in realization of the old memories she had thought she had forgotten about and hadn't thought back on since.

"I just thought he only existed from your story!"

The grandmother would have looked incredulous if not for the wrinkles that sat on her face. "No child, he's real and we met a long time ago. When I was a little girl."

While they had talked amongst themselves he had been thinking about why the grandmother had a sort of familiarity in spirit to her and that's when he got it. Getting up, that made her try and hide behind the hunching figure.

"You're that girl from the forests. Uprooting the flowers." The grandmother had a smile as she bowed her head down in remembrance, a wistful frivolity to her broadening smile.

"I find it extraordinary that you still remember," she admitted and even her granddaughter seemed impressed.

Amaimon gave a shrug. Prior to, he had encountered a couple of humans—adults but never a child. She had been the only one since now. Time flew quicker than he had imagined and when seeing her and in those rare instances Amaimon had felt how aged—how ancient he was.

"Since I know your name I'll tell you mine!" the girl seemed to have gained confidence as she offered her hand to him. He stared at it as she held it out. "My name is Shiemi Moriyama!" Her hand then gestured to the elder. "And this is my grandmother, of course! I love her very much!"

He didn't know why she had to add the last part because it was visible that she did with the amount of affection she showed.

"I think I'll go make tea for us," the grandmother said and there was a panicking in the girl as the other left them, swiftly for a person of her age.

Sinking down into the grassy earth, she folded her legs under her as Amaimon looked at her as she tried to minimize herself. From his years of living he'd never seen someone that radiated so much…goodness. His stomach clenched and he looked somewhere else.

It was quite unsettling how much polar opposites they were yet she wasn't repelled at all.

"That's the quickest I've seen her move...she must be ecstatic," the girl mused to herself and then realizing that he was still standing. With a shy smile she looked to him, as if he wasn't the a demonic prince of hell. It was a bit strange to him to be treated with civility for once. His own flesh and blood (and extended) didn't greet him with genuine geniality but that could be put onto the fact that they were demons and it was in their blood.

"Would you like to sit?" She patted the grass next to her and eventually Amaimon sat next to her, cross legged as he ran his hands through the grass. It pulsed under his touch, the blades growing enough that made her gasp, audible. Inching to him, she pointed to his hands as she inspected them with a stare.

"How did you do that?" She queried, eyes filling full of wonder and ardor.

"I didn't, it happens naturally when I'm around," he said, truthful. "Everything responds to me." When saying that the girl took in how the garden had warped to where the king was and how everything had livened to such heights.

"That's so cool!" She beamed at him and he was taken back slightly from her bountiful enthusiasm. "At first I thought you were creeper since you did break the gate and you wouldn't shake my hand, but I can see you're really nice—and a demon too!"

His mind buffered at one word. Nice? That certainly wasn't befitting of a hellish spawn of Satan. Yet he couldn't argue as the girl prattled to him about what life was for demons and what he exactly did.

It was a one sided conversation on his end but she persisted when one worded answers got repetitive until she switched to gardening tips. On that Amaimon went into detail that had her nodding and asking about the methods that he ensured would work as he had established most of them.  
Slowly, Shiemi found herself being more engrossed in the conversation, forgetting her shyness and talking about her passions as he reaffirmed her affinity for plant life.

Briefly when he was unresponsive she would remember her meekness and stutter before regaining her voice and rambling until she realized that he wasn't going to attack her like a demon would.

From that she could look him in the eyes, no matter how much of a dead fish they resembled, and talked to him as comfortably as she could which was easier than she had expected.

Amaimon had to keep his answers mostly on plants since anything about demons made her face fluctuate between white and red and to keep her from stuttering.

It wasn't that he minded too much but plants weren't the most receptive things to him.

Around that bend in their conversation, the grandmother had come with two cups of tea, on a tray with desserts. Amaimon appreciated that it wasn't the processed, watered down tea that his brother drinked frequently and it was from the leaves of the garden and plucked at the dessert.

"You know more gardening than grandmother!" the girl said as she looked over to her grandmother. The king chewed at the sweet, wiping off the excess crumbs.

"I am the Earth King," he said. As they drank their tea and the grandmother watched the two and hadn't really talked she was staring intently at his side.

"Amaimon what's that on your side? Did you spill tea?" She was referring to his coat and when he lifted it up from him they saw the punctured hole in his side. The girl appeared to be the most taken back, aghast at the wound that had been in the stage of congealing.

"That's horrible!" the girl exclaimed when seeing the wound as she rushed off when instructed to find the first aid kit as the grandmother came over to him. He eyed her as she sat beside him, combing through the miniature blooms that sprouted around them. They responded to her as they did to him, a spark of envy that was squashed when the blooms had sensed it.

"For a king you certainly are clumsy," the old woman offhandedly said to him and he snorted but stayed silent.

From the fall he was aware of the small injury but the holy ailment was more of a pain than a simple flesh wound. He'd wait for his body to heal which took at least a day or two. Humans liked to make a bigger issue out of nothing so he crossed his arms as the girl came back with the medical kit.

"Could I—?" The girl seated herself beside him, inching to him. He didn't like people touching him but the old lady had been giving him a look when he hadn't.

Conceding he uncrossed his arms and let her peel back his layers of clothes. A sharp intake of air and then dabbing at his human vessel that made him wince from the rubbing alcohol before Amaimon controlled it.

It didn't hurt, rather the abruptness since he usually let his wounds heal themselves and the corrosive chemicals were unpleasant to the organic matter of his body.

Gauze pads and wrappings covered his lower abdomen and a bandaid on a finger from a cut he had didn't know where he had gotten. Pulling his clothes down he conjured up flowers that weren't native to the area as his thanks (though it would heal in less than a day), and saw how the girl happily accepted them when seeing them.

At the border of her garden she had walked him out to where the head of the gate used to be, standing behind the poles. "So tomorrow you'll actually help me garden?"

He couldn't make any promises and he stood leaning against the gate, hands in his pockets, evading her questioning. The girl had a grin on and it never wore off at him.

"I don't know." He'd doubt it would be any entertainment in store for him but the girl was hopeful and he didn't have anything else better to do.

"If you can—you should!" She then gestured to the laying gate door. "Maybe you can put that back.

Amaimon scoffed, "I would get burned if I did that."

The girl giggled, "I know! I was kidding!"

This girl was odd, not in mannerisms, but as an overall human. With the exception of her grandmother, (though old people were invincible since they were near death and they didn't fear it as much), she seemed unafraid now and wasn't actively trying to get rid of him. He didn't know if it was a welcomed change or not, conflictions within his supposed ideals.

But as she waved at him, Amaimon couldn't help but think that he probably was going to end up gardening with her, or at least in due time.

At that thought, Amaimon wasn't so sure if he should be troubled by that.

* * *

Flower Meaning: good nature

* * *

A/N: a long awaited chapter! It may have inconsistencies and grammar/structural errors but I'll go back and fix that. I'll update (no promises when), I just have to revise a lot and get my bearings.

Until then cya!


	4. Blue Periwrinkle

A/N: how about that new chapter guys. There Kato goes wrecking my ships and all I can say is:

AMAIMON REDEMPTION ARC

I need this like I need air. Please Kato have mercy on a fan that's been waiting for months, (YEARS), for her favorite boi to come back. Schoolboy! Amaimon is a thing now but I need him redeemed please; end my suffering.

Anyway onwards!

* * *

Blue Periwinkle

* * *

Night had rapidly fallen over the little sanctuary; Shiemi brewing tea for her and her grandmother in the late hour. The two had the house to themselves as her mother had been away for the day, attending to overseas supplies that had arrived late. It was a stroke of luck that her mother had coincidentally been out when Amaimon had appeared, much to their fortune.

When returning indoors, Shiemi had searched in every nook and cranny of their residency even in the medicine cabinets that she ordinarily would stay away from. Later she had uncovered it as it had somehow found itself at the pit of her drawers when her grandmother had joined her.

From that, Shiemi had went through the album, reminiscing on the pressed flowers and imprinted ink with conversant fingers, relearning as she and her grandmother read together. The last page had Amaimon and he didn't appear a day older or younger from how he had been drawn by the date that was embedded in the parchment corner. While rereading, Shiemi and her grandmother then discussed the topic on how exactly should they repair the gate as it was too heavy for the two of them and how Shiemi's mother would react. Knowing her mother, she would overreact.

In the quaint living room, she sat on a futon pouring the teapot for the two cups that were on the low dining table, the book resting on the side. As they went over the events that had transpired before Shiemi still couldn't grasp that she had met him.

"I can't believed I hadn't recognized him sooner!" Shiemi said as she thumbed through the crepitate pages, needful of how the flowers were.

Her grandmother chuckled, "I can't believe I've got to see him twice."

As the two talked there was the clicking of the entrance door as it slide open and her mother came in with loads of crates, many labels in Japanese and English that had text in bolded and italicized red lettering. As she took off her clogs, she yelled for her daughter as she struggled to slide the door with the boxes in arm.

Standing up, Shiemi saw the 'shh' that her grandmother directed to her as she winked, putting a finger to her lips and Shiemi smiled back at her, zipping her lips up. They shared a quick laugh and shushed themselves as Shiemi exited the room, stepping down to greet her harried mother.

This would be a little secret between the two of them one of the biggest to date.

After all, her mother wasn't fond of demons and hadn't been ever since the incident. In fact, when Shiemi spent more time in the garden to where she was there for the majority of the day she disapproved of it, but she couldn't deny her only child and her own mother.

Helping her mother by taking a few of the boxes she set them down as her mother went over to the many drawers and shelves to put them in their necessary places.

As Shiemi was putting them where her mother instructed her, the older woman ferreting for her misplaced pipe behind the counter. While Shiemi packed the supplies into their sections her mother speared her with a calculating gaze, one that Shiemi associated whenever she was going to stay inside and not go out like kids her age should.

"I saw that the gate is gone," she abruptly brought up that made Shiemi stiffen, nearly dropping the cargo in hand. "Did a demon break the barrier?" Discarding the ashes of tobacco she refilled it, the singed smell making Shiemi's nose prickle, and cough in the back of her throat. She hated when her mother smoked, it wasn't good for her health and it smelled so rancid too.

In spite of all Shiemi knew her mother wouldn't relent if she said that a demon had broke down the gate, accidentally. Shiemi wasn't the best liar to people, even to herself.

Getting up as she put the barren boxes near the doorway she passed by mother with a hurried no. Her mother's eyes bore into her as she retreated into the adjacent room as her grandmother refilled her cup as Shiemi reseated herself, calming herself with the tepid tea. Wafting to her face, the aroma cleansed her of her worries, temporarily as she tipped the cup to her lips.

Her mother knew that there was something she didn't know that Shiemi was keeping quiet on but didn't want to press so she let out a sigh, more tired than her number of years let on.

"I'll call an exorcist to put up another barrier and fix the gate," her mother said outside the paper door before retiring for bed. The two slurped their tea so her mother would know they were preoccupied from answering her.

As the pair listened to the regressing footfalls, Shiemi let out a held in breath as she wrung her hands. If her mother grew suspicious that meant that the exorcists would too. What if Amaimon wouldn't come because of it and he'd think that he wasn't welcomed? A bunch of other worries stacked on the other, in a domino effect that came rushing down, pushing at her. "How is Amaimon going to get through the barrier? If he breaks it again mom will definitely—"

"Hush." A hand was on her head stroked through her locks of hair and she resisted the urge to lay her head down in her grandmother's lap as she had when a few years younger and more frightful of the world outside of home. "Don't fret now. We'll find a solution."

Reassured from her grandmother's wisdom, Shiemi nodded letting her grandmother run her fingers through her hair as her half-drunk tea went cold.

—

True to her words, Mrs. Moriyama had phoned the exorcists in the morning to reinforce the barrier and have the gate back up by midday, reimbursing them for their efforts by discounting a select few items from the shipments.

While watching the black gate rise up once more, it loomed foreboding through the viridian globe that Shiemi lived comfortably in, a contrast from the outside. A clear boundary could be drawn into the dirt from how embossed it was, where the garden ended and to where the city began. Part of Shiemi desired to go out and venture in those parts but knew that the safety of home was all she'd known of. Cut off from civilization to become the witch of the garden.

Shiemi was anxious that Amaimon would come out of nowhere and wreak chaos among the exorcists that she floated nearby the windows of the house and outside to see if he was there. Mercifully her luck hadn't run out just yet, as the exorcists had left somewhere in the midday and she came back into the garden, sliding her feet out of her sandals that laid on the porch.

"I guess he isn't coming today," she said to her grandmother as the two resumed their gardening. The latter didn't seem as bothered as she divided the compost.

"He may be repelled from the barrier," the other said, "though I think he's strong enough to break it again."

From what had happened from the day before, the events that went down in her backyard garden stayed in her thoughts, and would reside there for a while.

If she was a little child, she would be ecstatic beyond the stars and moon but being older she didn't know what to think. Rationality took over the fairytale from the cognization that he was a demon—one of royalty that gave Shiemi something to think deeply on.

Upon encountering, Shiemi had acted normal enough, she had reasoned to herself. It had been easier considering that the garden had been gated as a result of a malicious demon, and surprisingly she wasn't afraid of him.

She didn't know if she should either be terrorized that she didn't fear him or jovial that she wasn't.

Then again she hadn't had any other interaction from someone else besides the lessening members of family and a few regulars that came by the shop for a brief talk and sundries.

Other than that, she hadn't any encounter with people much less a stranger. Yet, she needed to know more about him, a itching to know who he was and not just what was said about him. There wasn't much about him that had been presented from the book that could be set apart from his personality and even then there wasn't much to go between the conversation they had.

The garden seemed expectant of their ruler's return and Shiemi listlessly ran her fingers through the plants that had bloomed yesterday. Hopefully he hadn't been chased away.

—

Spending most of his days revisiting the school that his brother had founded centuries ago, Amaimon found it much more amusing from before with the theme park and the various ploys that were hidden throughout the institution.

Jumping through traps and mazes, he made a his way back to Mephisto's office. His brother was occupied with what he was doing and gave him a side sweeping look as he lounged on the couch. Amaimon had brought along Behemoth and the beastly thing was chewing at the wooden leg. While munching on caramel popcorn, Amaimon then wedged a nail between his teeth to clean it.

"Amaimon tell that beast to stop ruining my furniture," Mephisto spoke after a prolonged stint of chewing from both of them that was wearing on his nerves. "And close your mouth when you're eating—stop littering my floor with trash!"

Peering out over the couch, Amaimon saw the food wrappers and unfinished bags of chips along with a overturned bottle of soda that had long lost its carbonation that Behemoth had its attention on, lapping at the spilled beverage that would stain on the wood.

"Sorry." He sat on his side and tugged at Behemoth who hopped up beside him as he let it have the remaining popcorn, eating messily as Amaimon took a bag off the carpet and went back to eating.

"Don't you have anything better to do? You could go back home," Mephisto muttered as he had to mundane paperwork and his little brother wasn't making it any easier.

This world was better in terms of food, the selection having more flavors to experience as Amaimon discovered his sweet tooth and the fact that he had a bottomless stomach, much to his brother's chagrin.

Flicking the the tip of his nail, he kicked up his feet while Behemoth had its head in the bag that he let it have.

"I already solved all the puzzles around here," he stated and Mephisto was incredulous from his answer.

"Those," a gloved hand came to drape at the bridge at his eyes, "weren't for solving. They're for keeping demons like you and me out." He let his hand fall to his chin. "I don't see why you can't use the key I gave you."

Amaimon shook his head, "there wouldn't be any fun in that."

To a degree Mephisto could understand that, where his brother was coming from. After all, Assiah was one wondrous and bountiful playground with boundless possibilities and he had his playmates set out in position soon to take effect in a year's time.

However his brother's meddling could be proven worrisome and he had to keep a loose collar on him. Yesterday, Mephisto had made sure he had stayed within school grounds which surprisingly, Amaimon had for the most part.

"Go make friends, make forgeable bonds." That's what all great shounen mangas repeated, the overused trope about friendship and how it trumped just about anything. "But that doesn't mean you can possess anyone," Mephisto corrected himself and Amaimon spared him a cursory glance.

"Friends?" As hopeless as ever, he took out a few books Mephisto had kept for times of need, (this was one of them), and handed those to him.

Just from the the cover, it was juvenile picture books fit for children but would be perfect for his brother. Grabbing at the corner of the book, Amaimon flipped it open and saw the tale of a demon and a boy becoming friends.

"It is unrealistic a human and demon having a friendship, much less playing and being cordial with each other," Mephisto said beside him, leaning on the armrest of the couch, "but that's why there are stories. What great stories those are indeed." How optimistic they started and how tragic they ended. Never failed to leave a sour smile on his face when finishing a particularly good one.

Tugging at Behemoth Amaimon left with the books in tow. There was a knowing glint in the corner of Mephisto's eyes as Amaimon held it for a second as he passed. His eyes had been drawn to the beige bandage that Amaimon sported for some days as Mephisto knew his brother wasn't the one to put that on.

Lingering was a sweeter smell of flowers on him and underneath that—the uniqueness of humans. It had confirmed where he had been and Mephisto had his curiosity peaked.

As the door shut behind him Mephisto went back to his desk, his smirking face in his hands. "Young brother I wonder what your story will be? For your sake one that has a happily ever after!" He spun in his chair, letting out a chortle at what was awaited in the closing future.

Going into the forest he leapt from treetop until he found a comfortable enough spot to stop. Backed against the trunk, he sat on a branch as Amaimon read the story to himself, Behemoth sitting with him.

"Brother is right, this is unrealistic," he inputted to the goblin who squabbled at him.

Switching his position to hang upside down, he read another book. The pictures did provide some enthrallment from the coloration of the illustrations were eye catching but for a couple minutes at least, his eyes rolling in the back of his head from the paragraphs of wording.

Having served its intended purpose, he fed it to Behemoth that gladly ripped into it while he made a airplane out of a page. Watching it fly with the updraft he decided to put what he had read partially to use. Leaping down he walked out of the forest and skipped among the cobblestones, Behemoth behind him.

Walking, he came upon the winding paved stairwell that led away from the shop and into the ensconced terrace. Leading up to the steps he saw that the garden spoke out to him when sensing him and Amaimon craned his neck.

It was as if she lived in the garden as she always seemed to be there. The girl was tending to seedlings, putting stalks for their stability as she tapped the ground to make sure it was supported. It seemed that she was the only one in the garden as she shuffled on her knees, tarnishing her clothes as it scuffed in the underbrush.

What was the girl's name? It had been a week since he had last seen her, or more; time was a fickle thing in this place. Faster and brighter were the days and shorter the nights, that if he closed his eyes to blink he would miss it. Rummaging through his brain, he snagged a inkling of what it was and was about to knock on the metal when she saw him standing there.

"You're back!" Her eyes glittered as she dashed over to him. Her hands were indecisive as herself as she she wanted to put them through the bars. Instead she settled to put them between the spaces and not further, letting her digits wrap on the railing with a face lost in thoughts. "After you left I thought I had scared you off…"

Him? Scared? If anyone had said that about him he would definitely kill them. Those two things didn't go together and he gritted his teeth at the insinuation. Behemoth as if sensing that, bared its maul and snarled that made Shiemi warily eye the sprite.

Amaimon pulled at the chain, quieting it. "Why would you say that?"

Her hands delineating the soot colored rails as she glanced back at him then at the gate that separated her from him, hesitating at his response. Amaimon waited, staring until she spoke back.

"Because of the gate. I thought that you would think…" she trailed off when realizing that Amaimon crossed his arms with an unsatisfactory air around him.

"I broke it yesterday. You fixed it." He said it simple as he put a hand on it. It sent a temporary shocking and then it shattered again, though this time the gate didn't collapse all the way. Vines that grew from the ground twined themselves between the hinges that would grant him access but still maintaining the spell. Cracking it open Shiemi let him through; Behemoth bit at the flowers that he had planted when let in.

Those were what he considered a gift and tightened his grip on the chains that made the hoboglobin obediently hunker down in the grass, chewing at the ground instead. Weeds were one of its favorite things to eat and he let it feed off those.

"Erm, are you sure it won't eat the plants?" Shiemi inquired and Amaimon shrugged.

"It'll eat the ground and the weeds but I can tell him to not eat anything else," seeing her nod he muttered something under his breath in his native tongue that had the beast sit obediently, chomping on the petal that had escaped from its overbite.

"What did you say?" Shiemi said when seeing how still the beast had become. From what she had heard, it was just a shortened whisper and she was positive that he actually hadn't spoken.

"I'll kill it if it disobeys me." Judging from how she reacted to the bluntness of his words he had to explain himself, he didn't know if that was the right approach.

Shiemi knew that demons were vastly different from humans but it was terrifying how exactly much that difference could be. Shivering a bit at how easily he had said the words Shiemi excused herself as her mother and her grandmother were chatting together.

Amaimon wondered if he had scared her off when looking at her receding back. He didn't lie and didn't do anything that had upset her, had he? Perhaps he should have kept the books.

When inside she hinted that he was there towards her grandma. Catching the expression, the grandmother wisely and discreetly directed her mother to the front of the store to continue their talk, leaving Shiemi with the demon king. Taking out treats that she had for him, she ran back outside and breathed in relief when he was still there.

"How is your injury?" She asked, when seeing him crouched over to where she had made an addition to the garden.

There was a noncommittal hum and she realized that the bandaid on his finger was no longer present and that there was no cut on his skin; Shiemi concluding that he had miraculously healed. Whilst he bit at the edge of his nail, Shiemi set the tray of snacks down to where his pet ate its contents.

Watching, she also crouched beside the other and Amaimon gave her a out of the corner look before nibbling at his nail. Behemoth also looked at it with its beady eyes before gnawing at a rock.

"I just planted them today," Shiemi combed her fingers into the dirt with a placid smile. "I wished they could grow faster though."

An idea struck him, suddenly and he latched onto it before it could slip from him. Looking at the plants he spoke. "Have you seen that movie about where those two girls make trees grow out of the plants." From his sudden question, Shiemi had to think before she realized what he was talking about.

"Yes! It's one of my favorite movies!" She said and he nodded at her answer. Secretly he had enjoyed it too, though it didn't have the right depictions of forest sprites.

"If you dance, it'll make them grow," he informed, as he pushed Behemoth from indenting its teeth onto the tray. "Just like that."

"Really?!" But there was some doubt that followed as she cast her eyes on the plants. The leaves were just there, and she didn't want to hamper the sprouts. "But I've already tried and it didn't work then." By saying that she had meant when she was the same age as the girls and had come out and danced in the moonlight.

Amaimon shook his finger at her, "that's why I'm here. Now go on."

Admittedly, Shiemi had done it only at night when no one could see her do the embarrassing display. It was in broad daylight, and she saw how expectant he was, and swallowed her hidden mortification. Taking timid steps, she raised her hands above her head as she capered around the allotment.

Amaimon couldn't believe that she was actually doing what he said. Humans were gullible but she was on another plane of it and didn't know if it was a good or bad thing. After a minute or two as he watched her attempts to dance around it, she became increasingly more self-conscious and beet red as she put her head in her lap as she crouched beside him.

"I must look like an idiot," she mumbled and Amaimon could picture the steam emanating from her red face as she buried her face into her knees.

It was funny enough and entertaining that Amaimon wanted to see it a second time. Humans were entertaining enough in interaction, but she was something else, he thought. When she hesitated he saw that even she had some limitations and he tried again.

"Try it this time with your eyes closed," he insisted and Shiemi peered at him. Since he asked so nicely she did a variation of it, not budging in her spot, bringing her arms outstretched as she stood up.

When he saw that her eyes were clamped shut and that she stretched as far as her limbs allowed, he slammed his hands down on the earth and willed the plants to grow as high as he could possibly make them. With a rickety grating of roots and the rumble of awakening, the plants exceeded in height as Shiemi opened her eyes at the earth shattering noise.

"Ah—!" Her eyes marveled at how the heights it could go when she realized that her mother could either see or hear what was going on in the backyard.

While he was concentrating Shiemi had crouched beside him, a hand hovering as she didn't know whether she should touch him. "Amaimon please stop!" She said to him as he cocked his head.

The plants were higher than the treetops by now and were giddy from being up so fat and so fast, and he thought she would share the same sentiments too.

"But I thought you wanted it to get bigger?" He was confused. First she wanted it to grow and now she wanted him to stop, couldn't she make up her mind?

"I did but this is too much! My mother might notice," when seeing the colossal plants that had buds as large as her she lowered her voice to be pragmatic, "and she'll call the exorcists."

Which meant that he would get into trouble with his brother. That couldn't happen if he valued his life. Taking his hands from the dirt as the roots had coiled over his fingers to drain his power, disappeared underground, and the plants reduced in size but were still tall enough to be noticed.

When seeing him clean the dirt off on his long gloves she handed him a spade. At the instrument he held it by the forefingers as she dug at the ground.

"Why don't we plant things? Like vegetables or fruit?" She offered and he tilted his head.

"I can do that." Letting go of the gardening tool, he thrusted his arms into the soil and willed just about any creation he could think of. Immediately a plethora of produce erupted from the grass that made Shiemi yelp at the abruptness, a strawberry bush coming out from the shallow hole she had dug. This time he eased it to a normal growing rate and took his hands from the soil.

Behemoth, at the prospect of something to eat, leapt up but Amaimon yanked at the chain to which it whimpered but stayed to his side. When seeing how harshly he was treating Behemoth, Shiemi looked to him, a quiet, subdued sort of hurt in her eyes that Amaimon couldn't distinguish quite yet.

"Why do you treat it like that?" His eyes flitted to her when hearing the saddened tinge in her voice. "I don't see why you can't be nicer."

To prove herself she made a split decision. Rashly, she then stuck out her hand to it Behemoth inspected the hand and it shakes as if she had saw her error, from the many jagged teeth were prominent from its mouth. However she didn't retract it and Behemoth then hunched its back so that her hand made contact with its skin.

A shriek stuck itself in the back of her throat but died away with a craggily purring that was coming from the beast. It's skin wasn't slimy or unpleasant but warm and smooth like a pebble worn from a stream. Letting her hand rub it she bravely ran her fingers along the multitude of markings and colors as Amaimon watched the exchange.

When she had stopped petting it, the goblin had hopped into her lap as she carefully held it and Amaimon wasn't aware that it could act like it was, as if it were a dog.

"See? It can be cute from how you treat it," she giggled as the fae huddled into her arms as she petted it gently.

"Huh. You're weird, girl." It was a statement and he didn't know what to think about it. Shiemi was a bit hurt from it and that he called her girl, a visible sign was how her eyes went to him that he did catch. However he didn't think on it.

"What's its name?" Shiemi asked after another minute of cradling the monster in her lap as if it were a house pet.

"Behemoth." The hobogoblin's ears perked at it's name being called but remained in Shiemi's lap, his brow quirked when seeing that it had stayed put.

Shiemi grinned, "a fitting name for you." It garbled and licked a long stripe of saliva on her cheek, laughing at the prickling sandpaper texture of it.

It was so odd seeing her influence, it made Amaimon more confused on what humans should act like. The book was zilch when it came to her. Which made it all the more entertaining.

A opening of the backdoor was heard and the slam of it closing and Shiemi snap to, her breathing in a stupor. It was her mother and her grandmother that came out into the garden and was heading their way and her mother didn't seem pleased.

"Quick—hide!" Hastily, she placed Behemoth in his lap and then ran to meet them that were on the other side of the house. She nearly tripped over her own feet when reaching them that caused her mother to tsk at her incompetence. A rush of shame flooded here but it wasn't the time to feel sorry for herself.

"What's all this?" Her mother asked when seeing the abundance of vegetables and fruits.

"Oh—well grandmother and I thought that the garden could also be used for other purposes. Like food!" Shiemi supplied as she saw the bushels and trees that Amaimon had created in the space that he was given.

Her mother hadn't come into to the garden for a while and she didn't know when the plants had been ordered. Notwithstanding, the booming clatter that had rocked the house didn't exactly go without a hitch.

"I'm sure that construction of that new place had been that sound," her grandmother covered for her. "I don't know my hearing has been going. Hopefully your's isn't going too—you're not even half my age!" Her grandmother laughed and Mrs Moriyama flushed and scoffed.

"Must have imagined it!" The two went back into the house as her grandmother mimed her zipping her lips and Shiemi mirroring her.

Going to the back of the house, she saw the tapering end of his holey coat and elvish boots that was near the shack. Tiptoeing to it she saw the Amaimon against the shed with a knee up and his elbow on it, letting his goblin eat the weeds that had festered in the wood.

Sitting beside him she stared at the gated bars that caged them in. Amaimon observed her as she absentmindedly picked at a weed and gave it to Behemoth. It parked itself beside her, laying on it's stomach for a nap.

"One day I'm going to leave this place and go out there," Shiemi confessed to him, as she fisted into the yellowing grass under the shaded place. Glimpsing at the outline of the trees, she let out a exalted inhale of air.

"Then I can finally have a friend! All sorts of friends!" She put her hands together at the prospect as Amaimon fished in his pocket, half in tune to what she was saying.

When finding it, he tapped at her shoulder that made her turn to him, her reverie momentarily halted. It was a lollipop, one of his favorite types and he held it out to her. He held her gaze, eyes and voice unchanging.

"Be my friend."

This is what his brother said he should do and he was simply following that. So why was she crying? Big raindrop like tears dripped off her chin and soaked into the floral printed fabric, but there was a smile on her lips. Was she sad? If she was sad why was she smiling too...humans were more complicated than he'd given credit too. Sniffling, she wiped at her eyes with her sleeve before beaming at him.

"I—I would like to be your friend!" She was bashful when blurting it out loud. "Actually," she had a tendency for her eyes to wander away as she collected herself. "I've always wanted to be your friend."

At that confession, Amaimon internally blanched. Recently they had just met how did she want to be his friend? Then he deducted that she knew possibly from her grandmother telling her tall tales.

"A human and a demon is a bit funny, but..." she looked to him, her eyes no longer brimming, "I would definitely be your friend!" Then taking his hand she gave it a squeeze with both of her hands that made him the lollipop slip from his fingers.

Holding onto it in a fit of blithe, seconds long until her face combusted in a flurry of heat and delayed realization. "Ah—sorry!" She let go of his hand as if he had scalded her, her hands going back to clench into the grass, uncertain if she had overstepped a boundary. Bypassing that, Amaimon picked the lollipop back up and twirled it.

"So you're my friend now," he tested saying and the girl gifting a grin at him, eyes creasing from how widely it was. "Shiemi."

From saying her name the girl became a lovely shade of pink and that was rather anomalous, to him. After all he just called her by her proper name. He couldn't go on calling her girl when that itself had her upset over virtually nothing. If he wanted her to be his friend he'd have to call her by her name. From what the book had written, friends didn't refer to each other by demon and she called him by his name. It never was demon.

Unbeknownst to him she had been waiting for him to call her by name and was happy that he hadn't forgotten. It meant that she was something to him, a friend.

Her first friend, the singular thought made her heart skip beats and a cheeriness that she hadn't imagined she could ever have.

"And you're mine too!"

* * *

Flower Meaning: early friendship

* * *

A/N: they became friends woot. The reference is My Neighbor Totoro. Man this chapter was so hard to crank out. I'll have to come back and revise but until then enjoy! Read and review please!


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